We’re steering payments toward a more modern destination with GPSG. Image: Shutterstock

Today, Ripple is proud to announce the creation of the first interbank group for global payments based on distributed financial technology. Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Santander, UniCredit, Standard Chartered, Westpac Banking Corporation, and Royal Bank of Canada are the founding members of the network, known as the Global Payments Steering Group (GPSG). CIBC will also join the GPSG as a new member.

Although Ripple already has an extensive network of banks, the GPSG will serve a specific purpose. The group will oversee the creation and maintenance of Ripple payment transaction rules, formalized standards for activity using Ripple, and other actions to promote implementation of Ripple payment capabilities as our network continues to grow.

GPSG is the first group of its kind; it is the foundation of a completely modern payments network. GPSG is the world’s only blockchain bankers’ network with defined rules and governance. One simple integration affords banks access to a global real-time transaction network. With payment rules and standards, process support and a built-in community, GPSG offers banks a low-risk way to start using blockchain technology today.

This new payments network must have a common set of standards and protocols, to maintain critical integrity and security across borders and offer seamless service to customers across the globe. The GPSG will work to define the standards and processes that this changing industry now needs in order to build better payments networks that can scale to the demands of tomorrow.

Chairman of GPSG and former President & CEO of The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) Don Donahue pointed out the significance of this event.

“The creation of GPSG is significant because this represents the first time that major banks have formulated policies to govern the transfer of money across borders using blockchain. I’m very excited to be a part of this group of forward-looking leaders who are building the payments network of the future today.”

These leading banks are working with Ripple to reduce the time and cost of settlement, while also enabling new types of high-volume, low-value global transactions. By coming together to form the GSPG, these banks are laying the foundation for a new payments network, underpinned by Ripple’s solutions and supported by rules and governance for global settlement.

Bank to bank, this is the way we modernize the world’s financial infrastructure.

Several of the banks offered comments about their decision to launch this historic network:

“We are committed to delivering innovations that support the evolution of global payments networks. We are pleased to join this steering group and explore practical applications for blockchaintechnology that will advance commerce in all regions of the world.”

“It’s time for banks to push on and move from discussing the potential benefits of blockchain, to making them a reality. As ever, the devil is in the details. We are joining the GPSG in order to contribute to the definition of the standards and processes which the industry now needs in order to move ahead and build better payments networks.”

—Julio Faura, Head of R&D at Santander

“A common set of standards and protocols is critical for the integrity of any platform that transfers money across borders. This is an important milestone for banks to embrace distributed ledgers in the move from proof-of-concept to commercial-ready solutions.”

“As a leading international bank committed to digitization, our involvement in this group is only natural. In addition to promoting the use of distributed ledger technology, we have been, and will continue to, drive standards and policies in order to create new value propositions for our clients and wider industry.”

A year ago, Ripple arrived at Sibos with a smaller network of banks and the same big dream. I am very proud to return this year with so much to show for our hard work. The inauguration of the GPSG is yet another sign that the banking world is ready to update its infrastructure, and Ripple’s solutions are the best way to achieve that goal.